Universal Enrolls In 'Umbrella Academy'

In terms of Marvel and DC, Dark Horse is considered just what its name implies — the dark horse in the American comics industry dominated by more well-known names. But superhero-challenged Universal is determined to try to make the most of its deal with the publisher. So the studio is fast-tracking The Umbrella Academy (about a group of 7 children born with mutant superpowers) after just pinning down its deal with Gerard Way, the lead singer of the rock band My Chemical Romance, and Dark Horse owner Mike Richardson, the comic book store owner who started the comics company in 1986. Scott Stuber will be producing what Uni insiders praise as a “cool and sexy” project. TheUmbrella Academy is yet another moonlighting project from an established entertainment talent: in this case, Way, lead singer for My Chemical Romance who received critical and popular acclaim for his concept CD “The Black Parade” which was a big hit with the goth crowd. As for The Umbrella Academy, it won an Eisner Award, which is comicdom’s Oscar for a best limited series this past summer at Comic-Con. nd it’s said to be a cross between Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol and X-Men. There will be a continuing mini-series (along the lines of Mike Mignola’s B.P.R.D. (probably no coincidence, as both books are published by Dark Horse), and Way has said he definitely wants to have storylines that evolve and even conclude, rather than remain ongoing like most superhero titles (which by their perennial nature can’t change the main hero too much which is limiting).

17 Comments

Benjamin • on Nov 23, 2008 3:31 pm

I know Uni doesn’t hold a candle to the other studios who’ve gotten a slice of the superhero pie with all the Marvel and DC fare, but I wouldn’t exactly call them “superhero-challenged”. I feel that the Hellboy franchise has done well for Uni on a limited scale to reach a niche audience, and critical reception of Guillermo del Toro’s vision seems to be solid for the most part. I grew up reading Dark Horse titles (albeit mostly the Star Wars ones, which I’m sure Lucas has all those rights under lock and key) but I feel that they’ve done well as a corporation hanging in there with the big boys over at Marvel and DC. I’d like to see more Dark Horse titles brought to the big screen in the future… for what it’s worth.

Cal Bynum • on Nov 23, 2008 5:13 pm

Universal is making “Hack/Slash” and “Umbrella Academy”. This combined with “Hellboy” and “Wanted” means they’re dead set on carving out a niche as the cool comic book movie studio. Can’t wait to see these!

For what it’s worth, The Black Parade is not a goth record at all, and I say that as a guy who paid for, and enjoys the record.

My Bloody Valentine is Goth. Bauhaus is Goth. “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” by The Decemberists touches gothic. And of course Siouxie and the Banshee’s is Goth.

The last mainstream record that was really “Goth”-esque was probably Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral. The deep, brooding nihilism of that piece, where the protagonist shoots himself in song 10, but misses and then bleeds out on the floor for the remaining 4 tracks before reaffirming that he is glad to have died, even in such a horrific way, pretty much sums up why people don’t know what Goth is. It’s so totally uncomerical that it gets stereotyped and dumbed down.

Really MCR are a punk band that has moved toward operatic rock music. They owe a lot more to Meatloaf and Thin Lizzy than they do to any of the names I mentioned above.

Gary, it’s not an X ripoff at all. And the fact that you weren’t previously familiar with Umbrella Academy tells me that you’re not much of a comics fan. That’s fine. Most people aren’t; however, not being a comics fan, you probably shouldn’t pronounce judgment on comics from your limited perspective.

Johnnie Cochran • on Nov 24, 2008 10:02 am

This will never get made because Marvel and Fox will file suit to prevent it. Umbrella Academy is very clearly a straight rip-off of X-Men. You’ll see this project in court before you ever see it in a theater.

Gary, have you actually read “The Umbrella Academy”? Because I did, and speaking as somebody who’s been reading the X-Men for 30 years, it’s not “an x-men rip-off”. It wouldn’t have won the Eisner if that was the case. Dismissing something as a “rip-off” just because it deals with young mutants is like dismissing every comic book since Superman a rip-off because it deals with superpowered beings. At least try reading a book before you diminish it.

The strength of this book for me was all about the quirky tone. I’ll be curious to see if they can pull that off in a live action movie.

Robert Not So Wise • on Nov 24, 2008 1:02 pm

Universal brought us “Mystery Men,” lest us not forget.

They’re totally superhero challenged.

-RnsW

Goth expert • on Nov 24, 2008 2:56 pm

Hunter is correct. Wearing black and eyeliner doesn’t make you goth and MCR are not a goth band. To correct “Hunter” though – My Bloody Valentine is not a goth band either. They are a “shoegazing” band and while some goth types might like MBV too, they are not a goth band. Nine Inch Nails is also not goth but an industrial band -however there is a tremendous cross-pollination between those two musical genres and lots of people make that mistake. Goth is a tremendously misunderstood genre – it has visual, lyrical and musical components. For the record, the major Goth bands are: Bauhaus, The Cure, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Christian Death, etc. Depeche Mode’s goth status is also a topic worthy of debate.

Kevin • on Nov 24, 2008 3:32 pm

gary – just because the word “mutant” is used in both doesn’t mean one’s ripping off the other, unless you think L&O/CSI:NY/NYPD Blue are all ripping off each other just because they’re all cop shows based in NYC.

Ashley • on Nov 25, 2008 2:32 pm

@Johhnie Cochran….don’t you think if Marvel were going to sue for plagiarism they’d have done it already? After all the book’s been out well over a year at this point. More than enough time to act against this so-called “rip-off”.
Everyone else’s wonderful responses to Gary should be plenty evidence why they haven’t.

draco • on Apr 9, 2009 11:43 am

Also, Johhnie, Marvel can’t really accuse anyone of plagiarism due to the fact that they have ripped off other people’s concepts as well to get where they are.

Examples:

Avengers-Justice League
Sentry-Samaritan and Superman
Moon Knight-Batman and the Shadow
Dr. Strange-Dr. Fate and Mandrake the Magician
( And the list goes on)

Ruth • on Dec 3, 2009 8:14 pm

I really enjoyed this comic series. Although it was short, i quite got a kick out of it. Very refreshing and unique in its own way. Wonderful. :)